“Congress: Divided, discourteous _ taking a break”

AP’s David Espo: “The accomplishments are few, the chaos plentiful in the 113th Congress, a discourteous model of divided government now beginning a five-week break.”

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Legislation linking interest rates on student loans to the marketplace passed, and, too, a bill to strengthen the government’s response to crimes against women. Two more measures sent recovery funds to the victims of Superstorm Sandy.

Among the 18 other measures signed into law so far: one named a new span over the Mississippi River as the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge, after the late baseball legend. Another renamed a section of the tax code after former Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas.

A third clarified the size of metal blanks to be used by the Baseball Hall of Fame in minting gold and silver commemoratives: a diameter of .85 inches in the case of $5 gold coins, and 1.5 inches for $1 silvers.